Editor’s note: Following Westport Middle High School students’ publication last year of “While There’s Still Time: Remembering Westport’s Heroes,” a compilation of local veterans’ stories written by student interviewers, students this year produced a second edition with stories from 20 additional veterans. The stories they wrote will be published here weekly over the summer and into fall.

Residents who want a copy of the second edition can find them free of charge at the Westport Public Library; the books were produced with the help of a Westport Education Foundation grant. For more information, contact teacher Jonathan Bernier at jbernier@westportschools.org.

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“What the hell did I do?” was the first thought through John Bell's head when his alarm went off the day he was scheduled to leave for the military. He was following in his father’s footsteps by joining the Marines, even though his mother "didn't think [he’d] be able to make it through boot camp.” He served as a mortarman from 1983 to 1987, going from Parris Island to Camp Lejeune, Camp Geiger, and Camp Edwards.

John joined the Marines knowing he wanted to get an honorable discharge and become a police officer.

“I thought it would look good on a resume for a police officer,” he said. He was drawn to this career path after he had a substitute teacher in high school, who John recalled, “all he did was talk about the criminal justice program.” After the Marines, John had a lengthy 38-year police career between the Berkley and Westport police departments.

The most challenging part of the Marines for John may come as a surprise — it wasn’t the intensity, it was the downtime.

“People say the military is hurry up and wait, they’re not joking,” he said, talking about the fact that in the military you are rushed to complete tasks or arrive somewhere only to wait hours for the next step.

The toughest part about adapting to the military, according to John, was the mornings. He had to go from “a teenager wanting to sleep till 10:30 in the day to having reveille at 3:30 in the morning.” According to John that was only during boot camp though, and “when you were stationed in the fleet, that really didn't pertain to you a lot.”

One of John's funniest moments came when he was in boot camp. While on Battalion Guard patrolling around a gas station, he was “dying for a coke.” Luckily, there was a Coke machine on gas station property. He was patrolling the property and to avoid being too conspicuous he placed a quarter in the machine every time he passed it, and then “the fourth time [he] grabbed the Coke and went behind a dumpster and downed it in 10 seconds.”

Unsurprisingly, John found boot camp tough while he was there, but in hindsight he thought of it as “the best part of the military.” According to John, in boot camp you have “everything planned for you from when you got up in the morning to when you went to bed.” John enjoyed not having to think, even if “when you go to the bathroom” is planned for you.

John says that if you're considering joining the military, “think about it seriously, but don't hesitate,” and that, "It'll definitely help you in the long run.”